The employer is obliged to obtain information about the visa regulations that apply to the country the citizen of which is the person they want to employ. There are several specific closer bases within the framework of employment, according to which a foreign citizen can obtain a permit to stay and work in Serbia.

If a foreign citizen needs a visa to enter Serbia, then they need to apply for a Visa D on the basis of employment. If a foreign citizen is able to come to Serbia without a visa, then upon arrival in Serbia, they have the opportunity to apply for a single work and residence permit that is issued for a period of 36 months.

You can find out more about visa rules for citizens of foreign countries at: My Guide to Entry, Visas and Residence.

By submitting a request for the issuance of a single permit, which is resolved within 15 days from the date of submission of the properly completed request, the period of time in which a foreign citizen, upon entering the country, can legally start performing business activity, is reduced, thereby reducing the costs for the employer and foreign citizen themselves related to their accommodation and stay in the Republic of Serbia from the moment of entry until obtaining the necessary permits for their stay and work. It is particularly important to point out that the request for the issuance of a single residence and work permit can be submitted by the foreign citizen as well as by the employer on behalf of the foreign citizen, i.e. an authorized person, for a larger number of foreign workers they will hire.

Bearing in mind the need to attract foreign workers, as well as all other foreign citizens who plan to spend a longer period of time in the Republic of Serbia, and the need to provide greater legal certainty for foreign citizens and reduce bureaucratic and administrative obstacles, the amendments to this law made granting of temporary residence possible for a period of up to three years (instead of the previous one year), depending on the existence of reasons and evidence that is submitted for each individual case. The term of validity of the single permit is also three years.

Permit for temporary residence (on all bases prescribed by law), i.e. a single permit for temporary residence and work is issued in the form of a biometric document.

The request for extension of temporary residence can be submitted until the expiration date of the previously valid temporary residence permit. The same norm is prescribed for the extension of a single permit.

When issuing a long-stay visa on the basis of employment, the organization responsible for employment issues submits to the competent authority an assessment of the fulfilment of the conditions for employment in the Republic of Serbia, which creates the conditions for a long-stay visa on the basis of employment to be simultaneously a permit for residence and work in the Republic of Serbia, during the validity period of the visa.